Gangs

Types of Gangs

It is fair to say that an understanding of gangs in the United States has been colored by sensational accounts of gang activities and of gang life. This image has led many people to believe that gang membership means that violence and involvement in the drug trade are automatic. Many people also believe that gangs are highly organized, with a specific division of labor. This is not necessarily the case. Taylor attempts to categorize the wide range of gang characteristics and contends there are essentially three different categories in which to classify gangs: corporate, territorial, and scavenger. Corporate gangs focus their attention on making money. There is a clearly defined division of labor, and the criminal activities members engage in are committed almost exclusively for profit. Territorial gangs focus on possession of turf, and members are quick to use violence to secure or protect what belongs to the gang. Although there is some level of organization in these gangs in that there is a clearly defined leader and particular objectives and goals of the group, it is less refined than what appears in corporate gangs. Finally, scavenger gangs have very little organizational structure, and the motives for becoming a member focus on a need to belong to a group. The crimes that members of this category perform are usually impulsive and often senseless. There are no objectives or goals for the organization, and the members tend to be low achievers who are prone to violent and erratic behavior.

Although it is impossible to describe every characteristic of every gang, and the popular conception of gangs focuses on African Americans and Hispanics, the following descriptions were chosen for their distinctive features, which run counter to the “conventional” gang. A discussion of these gangs also serves to identify the difficulty of making general statements about the violent nature of gangs and their involvement in drug trafficking.